Print die mounting means in automatic pressure-marking machines



PRINT DIE MOUNTING MEANS IN AUTOMATIC PRESSURE-MARKING MACHINES Filed July 5, 1966 Jan. 21, 1969 KAzuo IKETANI Sheet 1 of 2 24 2.2 22 a 2J i2 45 Jan 21, 1969 KAZU'O IKETANI 43,422,752

PRINT DIE MOUNTING MEANS `IN AUTOMATIC PRESSUREMARKING MACHINES Filed July 5. 1966 Sheet g of 2 United States Patent O 3,422,752 PRINT DIE MOUNTING MEANS IN AUTOMATIC PRESSURE-MARKING MACHNES Kazuo Iketani, No. 57, Higashi, 7-chome, Tsumori-cho, Nishinari-ku, Osaka-shi, Japan Filed July 5, 1966, Ser. No. 562,800 U.S. Cl. 101-22 Int. Cl. B41b 5/00 3 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The present application corresponds to Japanese patent application Nos. 39,794, 39,795 filed July 15, 1965 in the name of Kabushaki Kaisha Iketanitekkosho, with the knowledge and consent of the applicant inventor of the present application,

The present invention relates to an automatic marking press having a cylindrical die element in which a workpiece is fed through the gap between a rotary die and a work supporting table moving synchronously so that the marking portions of die elements are pressed into the work producing indentations in the work corresponding to the letters, signs, or other indicia of the marking portions of the die elements.

Heretofore marking machines for accomplishing a similar purpose have been made in which the workpiece is held in a stationary position and cooperating die elements are driven downwardly on the surface of the workpiece to produce the desired marks. The vertical movement of the die elements and the die carrying member have resulted in excessive noise and vibration and also resulted in 'damaging forces on the bearings, support and frame of the marking machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic pressure-marking machine which overcomes the objections noted above and which is unusually quiet in its operation and substantially free of shock and vibration and is suitable to mark articles having parallel sides, such as the ends of bearings and nuts, to produce concave marks on at least one of the yparallel sides of a thick workpiece body.

A further object is to provide a marking machine which is adjustable to control the size of the gap between a work supporting table and the cooperating die to compensate for different thicknesses of workpieces.

Another object is to provide a marking machine having a long useful life and having structure which provides for ready changing of die elements and which requires a small space `and a minimum of power for operation.

A further object is to provide a marking machine which may be operated without a workpiece therein without damage to the machine or to the dies and to provide a marking machine which can cooperate with an automatic feeding device for high production.

Other and further objects will be apparent as the description proceeds and upon reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the marking press ICC showing the hollow base with the motor, belt and gear drive for a crank and link which operate a gear segment moving a work supporting table which cooperates with a rotatable die carrier which rotates at the same peripheral speed as the slidable table with means to adjust the position of the rotary die carrier to obtain the correct cooperation.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the marking press of FIGURE 1 using ordinary die assembling as shown in FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 6.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged front view of the die carrying member showing die elements carried thereby cooperating with a workpiece and showing the gearing for operating the rotary die carrier and the slidable table in synchronism.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary radial section of the rotary die carrying member and the table showing the cooperation of the die element with the workpiece and showing the gearing for maintaining the correct cooperative relation.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of a die element and FIGURE 6 is a front elevation of the same die element.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary vertical section of the marking machine with a different die carrying member carrying a cylindrical shaped die element.

FIGURE 8 is a section taken on broken line 8 8 of FIGURE 8A.

FIGURE 8A is a top plan view of the rotary die carrying member showing the screws for attaching and providing adjustment for the cylindrical die element.

FIGURE 9 is an axial lsection of the die element shown in FIGURES 7 and 8.

FIGURE l0 is a bottom plan view of the die element of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary vertical section through a portion of the base and the work carrying table showing the roller supports therebetween and the roller retainer.

FIGURE 12 is a plan view showing the roller retainer with the rollers which support the sliding table.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a hollow base 1 provides a housing for drive mechanism including a motor 2 connected by a pair of V-belts 3 to a double grooved pulley 4 affixed to a shaft 5 rotatably mounted in the housing, which shaft 5 carries a gear 6 meshing with a gear 9 fixed on a shaft 7 rotatably mounted in the housing with a pinion gear 8 fixed on the shaft 7 and meshing with a crank gear 10 rotatably mounted by means of a shaft 11 in the housing 1 and said gear 10 carries a crank pin 13 which drives a link 14 pivotally connected to an arm 16 by means of a pivot pin 15 which arm 16 is integral with or fixed to a gear segment 18 pivotally mounted at 17 on the housing 1, with said gear segment 18 having teeth 19 thereon meshing with a rack gear 20 affixed to the under surface of a work supporting table 24.

The work supporting table 24 is movably mounted on the upper surface of the base housing 1 by means of rollers 22 guided by roller guides 23 with suitable grooves being provided in the upper Surface of the housing 1 and the lower surface of the work supporting table 24 whereby the work supporting table 24 will move for-ward and backward in accordance with the operation of the gear segment 18 as driven by the motor 2 in the manner previously described.

Mounted on opposite sides of the housing 1 are holding frames 26 which are bolted by screws 42 to the base housing 1. A die carrying member 37 includes shaft portions 28 which extend into the holding frames 26 and are rotatably mounted in bearing blocks 39 which are slidable in the corresponding holding frames and are vertically adjustable by means of adjusting screws 40 threaded through the upper bars of the holding frames and screws 41 threaded into the lower bars of the holding frames thereby serving to accurately position the bearing blocks 39 for the correct cooperation.

Gears 29, 29 are mounted at each side of the die carrying member 37 and fixed thereto and such gears cooperate with'racks 30, 30 on each side of the work supporting table with the racks fixed to the supporting table by bolts 42A passing through the racks and threaded into the sides of the table 24, A spacer 31 may be positioned on the work supporting table 24 to support the workpiece 32 in proper relation to the die element 36 carried by the member 37.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, the die assembly includes a plurality of die elements 36 (FIGURES and 6) having marking portions 36 there- 0n and such die elements are mounted in side by side abutting relation in a rabbet 38 in the die carrying member 37. The die elements 36 are held in position by means of a face plate 33 having a relatively thin portion fixed to a fiat surface 33A of the die carrying member 37 with a thickened portion of the face plate 33 extending into the rabbet 38 and packing or shim 53 positioned between the die elements 36 and the thickened portion of the face plae 33.

The face plate 33 is fixed to the die carrying member 37 by means of machine screws 34 and the packing shim 53 is forced into effective gripping engagement with the die elements 36 by means of screws 35 threaded into apertures in the thickened portion of the face plate 33 and having their inner ends adjustably forcing the packing 53 against the die elements 36 with the reaction being taken by the opposite side of the rabbet 38.

From the above description the operation is believed to be obvious when a workpiece 32 is positioned on the table 24 with a spacer 31 interspersed to position the upper surface of the workpiece at substantially the pitch diameter of the gears 29 and 30 and reciprocation of the work table 24 by the motor 2 through the gearing causes the workpiece to pass through the gap between the die 36 carried by the die holder 37 and the work table 24. Any automatic feeding means may be provided for positioning the workpiece 32 in proper position on the table 24 and for removing the workpiece. Suitable positioning lugs may be provided to locate the -work-piece so that the die indicia will be in proper position with respect to the edges of the workpiece 32.

Referring to the modification shown in FIGURES 7 to inclusive, a die carrying beam member 37A of T- shape is rotatively mounted by means of stub shaft 28, 28 in the manner previously described. Face plates 43, 43 are mounted in the rabbets formed by the stem and cross bar of the T-shaped die carrying member by means of the screws 49 passing through apertures in the cross bar and screw threaded into the upper edges of the face plates 43 with other screws 50 passing freely through the face plates and screw threaded into the stem portion of the T-shaped die carrying member with the face plates 43, 43 being of sufficient length to provide a channel between the lower lprojecting portions of the face plate and the bottom end of the stem of the die carrying member which channel receives a die element shown as a hollow cylindrical member closed at one end and having marking indicia on the periphery of the open end of the cylindrical die member 45 as shown in FIGURES 9 and l0.

The closed end of the die element 45 is Iprovided with screw threads which receive the lower end of a retaining bolt 46 having a flange thereon which abuts the upper flat surface of the die carrying member 37A and is freely rotatable in the die carrying member whereby the screw threads thereof are threaded into the die element 45 preventing the die element from moving radially downward. The die element 45 is maintained in proper position by adjusting screws 47, 48, 48', and 47 which are screw threaded through the stem portion of the die carrying member 37A and abut the closed end of the die element 45 whereby the die element can be accurately adjusted to maintain the marking portions 45' thereof in the correct locus for cooperation with a workpiece shown as a ring 52 in FIGURES 7 and 8. The ring workpiece 52 is held in proper position on the work table by means of suitable stops 52A.

The die element 45 is maintained in proper position in the channel formed by the downwardly projecting portions of the face plate 43 by means of spacers 44 which are secured to the face plates by suitable means such as bolts 51 which are received in threaded apertures in the face plates and cooperate with the spacers 44 to urge the spacers against the die element with sufficient force to maintain the correct position thereof. By suitably shaping the spacers 44 die elements of any desired shape may be effectively clamped in position on the die carrier member 37A.

It will be apparent that the marking portions of the die elements 36 and 45 are arranged to lie on a locus of a cylinder having its axis coincident with the axis of the die carrying member and the shafts 28, 28 so that the marking portions of the die have the same peripheral speed and displacement as the -cooperating surface of the workpiece carried by the slidable table 24 and the operation of the machine is accomplished without any hammering or impact forces so that quiet operation and marking of the workpieces is accomplished in an efficient manner.

It will be apparent that dimples may be provided on the outer surface of the closed end of the hollow cylindrical die member 45 to receive the lower ends of the adjusting screws 47, 48, 48 and 47'.

It will be apparent that different types of work can :be properly supported on the work table and the ring 52 may be held in place by suitable stops mounted on the table in any suitable manner and when the work is thin a spacer such as the spacer 31 may be placed under the work 32 so that the surface to be marked is at the correct location with respect to the die 36 and suitable stops are provided to index the workpiece with respect to the die.

It will be apparent that changes may be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the valid scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pressure marking machine for producing a uniformly heavy pressure between indicia marking portions of a die element and a heavy work piece to be marked comprising a base, a work supporting table mounted on said base for movement therealong, a die carrying beam rockably mounted for movement about an axis for rocking movement relative to said base and to said work supporting table, means to mount a cylindrical die element on said beam with the axis of the cylindrical die element perpendicular to the rocking axis of said beam, and with the indicia marking portions thereof lying on the locus of the periphery of an imaginary cylinder having its axis coincident with the rocking axis of said beam whereby the pressure between the indicia on the cylindrical die element against a work piece on said table will be sufficient to apply the indicia thereto, retaining means passing through said beam member and secured to the inner end of said cylindrical die element, positioning means secured to said beam and contacting said cylindrical die element for maintaining the marking indicia of said cylindrical die element in accurate location so the marking indicia lies in the locus of the imaginary cylinder having the rocking axis of said die carrying beam.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which the cylindrical die element is hollow.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which the marking indicia is in the form of a curved ring surface.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hubbard 101-5 Bement 101-5 Cruse 101-12 Moore 101-22 X Browning 101--6 X Huck 101-12 X 5 WILLIAM B. PENN,

Wutscher 101-6 Jacobs et al 101-29 Meyerholtz et al. lOl-6 Wrob et al. 101-23 Primary Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R. 

